It's money earned the old-fashioned Southeast Texas way - through almost a year of monthly royalty checks from a natural gas well on city land. If city officials knew outright whether it could spend the money, that might make for some easier infrastructure decisions and give taxpayers more miles of better streets for their money.

Beaumont City Council met Tuesday to discuss their wish list for big-ticket capital projects including streets and other improvements and how to pay for them. To help, there's a long-term commitment from taxpayers coming that will add to the city's $154 million in outstanding debts.

According to the city's projections, the bonds might add 3.5 cents to the total tax rate, pushing it above 67 cents per $100 valuation by 2015 - about the same rate as 2005 - not counting changes that might be necessary for the 40-cent portion of the tax rate that pays for city operations.